Cho, J.; Song, Y.; Nam, J.; Cho, M.-L., and Chung, Y.-S., 2023. Predicting the occurrence of marine infectious diseases in the coastal areas of South Korea. In: Lee, J.L.; Lee, H.; Min, B.I.; Chang, J.-I.; Cho, G.T.; Yoon, J.-S., and Lee, J. (eds.), Multidisciplinary Approaches to Coastal and Marine Management. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 116, pp. 358-362. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208.

The prediction system of marine disease occurrence can contribute to increasing social acceptability of the regulation by delivering science-based decision-making process. The prediction system based on long-term data set is expected to lead rational decision-making for allocating financial and human resources. In line with the above, our research team collected monitoring data on marine diseases in 155 sites of Korea's coastal waters, from 2012 to 2019. The frequency and duration of the disease occurrence focused on Vibrio vulnificus, were interpreted by linking dynamics of seawater temperature and coastal currents, along with geographic characteristics of the sites. The prediction system simulated, with the accuracy of 81.4%, onsite data of the V. vulnificus occurrence. One of scientific findings from this research is that, in addition to the seawater temperature as an underlying driver of the occurrence, coastal currents dynamics and geographic features need to be fully incorporated into the prediction system.